Sorry if this is another post about a first shave, but I am feeling pretty happy about now!

Note: I always jump in feet-first when I approach something new, so if it seems as though I have bought maybe more than I should as a newbie, that's because I can't stop myself and have to try my hand at everything!

Anyway, on with the evenings events!

I bought a shave-ready wapi, but without my strop that I was waiting for (it takes a while for a package to come from poland to the UK!), I wasn't going to try and shave with it.

I bought a couple of old straights on for cheap to practice honing on, and tonight (my norton flattening stone arrived as well) I went and started on the Bismarck I picked up. It had rust along the edge, but with no nicks, I thought it might be the easiest I could start with.

Went straight in with the 4000 grit. Looking back, maybe the 1000 would've been quicker, but I persevered until I was cutting arm hair, then moved to a coticule, then to the chinese 12000 to finish.

Feeling pretty excited with my success (well, as far as I can judge at the moment, having no real experience with straights), I thought "Well, people always say that shaving is the best test of a blade", so I lathered up my left cheek (from dry, which might have been a mistake), and proceeded to go WTG. This didn't seem to do much (maybe because I didn't give the hair enough time to soften), so I though "Gah, sod it" and went straight to ATG.

It felt like it was pulling a little, but wow! This is the smoothest shave I have ever had! I was so bouyed up by this, I did the other side as well!

Scared myself a little when I felt steel on earlobe, but no cuts, and the alum block just gave me a tingle on a couple of spots on each cheek.

Summary: I love it! I am so glad I started down the path of the straight razor. If I had given any more money to Mr. Gillette, whose blades seem to go up in price but down in the number of cartridges you get in a box, I would probably do something silly.

Thanks for listening! Just need to take the scales off, de-rust the rest of the blade (I have tuf-glided it to keep it stable for now), polish the scratched-in initials from the back of the scales and re-pin. How hard can it be?